“I’m a Liverpool fan through and through, but when he was at Everton we just struck up a brilliant friendship.

“I still have one of his signed shirts from that period. He wanted me to keep it to remember the laughs we shared together on Merseyside.”

The actor was speaking to BBC Tees presenter Paul ‘Goffy’ Gough ahead of a trip up north for An Evening with Ricky Tomlinson, which is coming to the Dormans Club in Middlesbrough on September 2.

Ricky also spoke of his love for the region and the many times he has visited various parts of the North.

He added: “I often head to the North East to see my great friend Crissy Rock, the Benidorm TV actress, and I know how much Crissy loves living in the Durham area these days.

“I think the people from that patch and those around Merseyside are very similar, when I go there the people are always very warm and friendly - it’s home from home really.

“I have also spent some great times at The Durham Miners Gala across the years. I was there with them all when I was speaking a few years ago and they were tremendous to me, real proper people.

“My old friend Mike Elliott, the Century Radio host and talented actor and comic, was another strong northern link for me, it was so sad that we lost the great man last year.”

Ricky also recalled how he launched his acting career in Newcastle.

He said: “One of my first breaks was playing a part in a BBC TV ‘Play for TV’ which was set in Tyneside.

“I was still working as a plasterer in Liverpool at that time, and the lads in Newcastle were brilliant to me then - Newcastle was really where my career really took off and I never looked back from then on. I downed my graft tools and the work started to really move, with offers of other telly stuff.”

He added: “I just love getting into the clubs and talking about my life. It’s been a real rollercoaster, some great highs and some tough lows too.

“People just love to ask about The Royle Family, Mike Bassett, Bobby Grant in Brookside, or the days of ‘Boys from the Blackstuff’ - all of these roles have hit home to the public at some stage.”

The star is set to record a boxing movie called Gloves Off immediately after his evening in Middlesbrough. He will head to Leeds to record parts of it prior to Christmas.

Last year he played alongside Lisa Stansfield in the movie Northern Soul, which proved to be a hit in the cinemas and on DVD, capturing the resurgence of the Northern Soul scene in the UK today.

He said: “I’m really looking forward to meeting people in the Dormans, in Middlesbrough, as we always share some laughs on stage as we look back on my career.”

Tickets for the event, priced at £10, are available from Mark Horgan on 07935967 874 or from the Dormans Club in Oxford Road.